If you need evidence that Marlborough’s Nautilus Estate is a great place to work, just look to its staff. Almost all of them have been there for a solid decade; two decades for some (25 years for one!). “It adds up to a great bunch of people who love what they do and enjoy each other’s company,” says chief winemaker Clive Jones.
While the Nautilus team has been getting to know each other over the past years, they’ve also been getting to know pinot noir. It’s the only red wine made at Nautilus, although being Marlborough-based means they also make a range of whites including sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, albarino and gruner veltliner, and a top notch cool-climate chardonnay.
The Nautilus Estate tasting room and cellar door (and pinot cellar!) is at 12 Rapaura Rd, Marlborough. You’ll be greeted with a taste of the Nautilus Cuvee Marlborough Brut NV, but if you want more pinot in your sparking (the Brut NV is 75% pinot), they’ll offer you the 100% Pinot Vintage Rosé sparkling instead. The cellar door is worth a visit – you won’t find some of their rare back-catalogue wines anywhere else.
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Nautilus Estate
12 Rapaura Road, Marlborough
New Zealand
If your pinot was a music artist, who would it be?
It would have to be Neil Finn – a Kiwi who started off a bit raw and edgy (think early Split Enz), then found some broad public appeal (Crowded House) and now he has got more complex and confident in his own story with age and experience. You can choose to just enjoy the tune or take the time to listen to the detail and discover a whole other level.
Best music to listen to during vintage?
We generally like all types and whoever gets to the ‘cube of sound’ first gets to select their playlist. With an international bunch of vintage workers we get a variety of styles and genres and it is only very occasionally that we have to stage an intervention.
When no one is watching, you drink…
Gin & tonic
Your pinots are best for…
Drinking……let’s not get too precious about it, but if you have to have an excuse then the Sunday roast with friends or family is a good one.
Your pinots are best paired with…
A bird… of the feathered variety (with feathers removed and cooked to perfection!)
Where do you pinot?
I think the company is the most important thing and the right company will always trump fancy glassware in a pretentious setting. That is not to downgrade a great wine glass but I would rather drink pinot out of a paper cup with the right company than out of the perfect glass with the wrong company. My favourite place would be our backyard – i.e. somewhere in the Marlborough Sounds as the sun is going down.
Where can we buy your wine?
You can find our wine with a bit of effort. We sell to a lot of restaurants, fine wine retail in Australia and NZ, and you can buy via our website in both Australia and NZ.
What are you listening to when you’re…
Making pinot |
Drinking pinot |
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